Wear My Ring Around Your Neck
by bleviee
Summary: In the Hudson-Hummel family, if someone's singing Elvis, there was pretty much ten-to-one odds that it was either Carole or Finn. But on Rachel Berry's wedding day, it's Kurt who quotes Elvis at her, and asks her to do something that's even more meaningful than the Tony sitting on her mantle. Hummelberry and Raine friendship, with Klaine mentioned in conversation. A lot.


**Author's Note/Spoilers:** Spoilers up to "Britney 2.0," which is episode 4.02. Also, I'm pretty sure almost every Kurt fan out there knows that Ryan Murphy tweeted a response to a fan asking what age Kurt would be when he got married. But just because you know that the tweet happened, that doesn't mean you want to know that fact, so I won't say whether or not the age Kurt mentions getting married in this fic matches the tweet. I needed Kurt to get married young in this fic for… reasons that you'll see as you read. It's explained, and despite the comments Kurt makes about Finn and Rachel being too young, I feel like it's a decision that's not out of character, given the circumstances that change Kurt's mind. Also, I'm deliberately leaving it open-ended who Rachel is marrying, because this fic isn't about St. Berry or Brochel or Finchel or Puckleberry. This is about Hummelberry friendship, and Kurt being there for Rachel no matter what, and the importance of that to Rachel, with a fair bit of Raine friendship in the mix as well. The Raine friendship, though nowhere near as pronounced as the Hummelberry in this, is super important in this fic. That's why I chose to have it be Blaine that Kurt marries at such a young age, because I needed Rachel to have a very close friendship with both Kurt and his husband, and there's enough established Raine that it was easy to build on. Well, that and the fact that I ship Klaine with all the intensity of a thousand shipping fangirl suns.

**Warnings**: Umm, mentions of character death, but it's not a death that's new to any of the characters and doesn't happen in the timeframe of this story but rather years before. Also, I swear this fic has a happy ending, but it might make you cry. Stick it out, though. I promise it's worth it.

**Disclaimer**: Not one single solitary bit of this is mine. Characters, etc. belong to RIB and company, and the song quoted here, from which the title is derived, is sung by Elvis Presley. I also owe another movie props for inspiration, but telling you which one will ruin the story. I don't own it, either.

**A quick note before you read: **There are some _Wicked _references in here, because, well... it's Hummelberry. I've never seen it, just read a plot and character synopsis, but the plot doesn't matter, since Kurt talks in characters. In case you don't know anything about it, here's a quick explanation. Galinda and Elphaba are roommates/enemies turned best friends turned... well, their friendship has some rough spots but in the end they're there for each other. (They're the characters that Kurt and Rachel, respectively, play when they break into the Gershwin and sing "For Good.") Fiyero is the guy Elphaba ends up with (well, that's a simplification, but it's all you need to know for this story's purposes) and Nessarose is Elphaba's younger sister, who has is very sickly. Elphaba takes care of her and is very protective.

* * *

Blaine is well-versed by now at dealing with freak-outs. You'd have to be, to have his life. But _never, _not even the time when they were kids and Cooper had managed to lock himself in a room with four active Furbies during a power outage, has he seen a sight like Rachel Berry right now. She's literally blue in the face (well, around the lips, anyway) and her mascara is shot to hell. He's glad Quinn is around (and brought the professional-grade water-proof mascara "guaranteed even in underwater scenes" she'd "secretly borrowed" from the movie set she's working on) because while he can probably get Rachel calmed down, it will be easier with help. Also, there's no way he can fix her makeup, and Kelsey the psychotic make-up girl had started yelling at Rachel when she'd teared up as her dads came in to say hello, because the mascara wasn't waterproof and if she had to re-do her eyes, she'd come after her with an eye-liner pencil. (At that point, Blaine had stepped in and made Kelsey leave, because he just wants Rachel calm and happy and honestly, having Quinn and Santana do her make-up should have been the plan from the beginning, because it's a fun little flashback to high school and New Directions competitions that seems to work wonders on Rachel's stress levels, and also they had the God-given sense to not put mascara that couldn't stand up to tears on a _bride_.) Rachel had been fine, laughing even, he slipped out to make sure Kelsey had actually left, so when he opened the door to the Bride's Suite he'd been stunned at the sight of Rachel completely losing it.

"Okay. Okay, honey, we'll figure it out. Rachel just found out that her dads don't have… whatever it is she was going to let be her 'something borrowed,'" Quinn explains to Blaine as she tries to soothe Rachel, running her fingers carefully over the up-do and clearly thinking hard. "Let me figure out what I've got that will work, okay, Rach?" she finally says, moving towards the suitcase in the corner—she'll fly back to location right after the wedding.

"No offense, Quinn, but there's no way anything in there will work. The only jewelry you brought with you is the set to match your dress and it's not like I can borrow any of the clothes you brought, and I don't think the make-up or bobby pins count and I _can't _get married without something borrowed!" Quinn looks upset, and Blaine realizes she's seen the truth in what Rachel is saying—even though Quinn has been staying with Rachel for a few days now, ("look what happened the last time I was rushing to your wedding, Rachel... that was out of line, wasn't it? But seriously, put me up for a few days, I wanna be there with you!") none of her stuff will work.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll… look, Mercedes is here, and she's wearing this gorgeous bracelet. I'll go ask her if you can borrow that, okay? And Sugar's got a really pretty anklet on, and that might seem a little junior high, but no one will be able to see it. Or… Tina's bound to have _something _you can borrow. This is like all those Glee competitions, wedding style. Last minute scrambling's our thing, okay? And we always rock it in the end." Those words seem to soothe Rachel at last, and she takes a few deep breaths. When the color returns to her face and she even manages a smile, Blaine knows he can tell the truth without getting mauled. He knows good and well why Hiram and Leroy "forgot" the necklace Rachel was going to wear.

"Umm, they didn't forget it. They have it, but I asked them to lie, because I have something else for you to borrow." Somehow, Rachel keeps her calm, even as Quinn's mouth falls open behind her and Santana, over in the corner texting everyone she can think of to try to find Rachel something to borrow, threatens to "go all Lima Heights." But Blaine just keeps talking. "In my defense, I didn't think they'd say something when I wasn't around. Feel free to wear your grandmother's necklace, but first… here. Kurt wanted me to give you this. And this." Blaine reaches into his coat pocket to pull out a letter, "Rachel Berry" written on it in handwriting so shaky and frail it's almost unrecognizable as Kurt's, even without what a few years of being tucked into a box in the closet have done to it. Rachel closes her eyes, knowing exactly when this letter was written—sometime during Kurt's bouts of chemo. When she takes the letter, Blaine reaches into his pocket to pull out a box, remembering the last time this box was in his pocket and trying not to compare the similarities and differences of then and now. He sets the box on the dressing table and waits for Rachel to read the letter. He knows what it says, knows what every letter that has ever been put into that box says. Rachel reads it out loud anyway. Quinn and Santana look confused, but as Rachel reads the letter, a look of understanding crosses their face.

_My darling Rachel,_

_ So it's your wedding day. First of all, congratulations. Feels amazing, doesn't it, sweetie? Second of all, I really hope you (or more accurately, if I know my girls at all, Quinn or Santana) remembered to make sure your mascara is water-proof. If not, put this letter down and fix it right now. Send Blaine to the store if you need to, I'm almost certain he's just standing around looking pretty. (He does it so well, too, especially in a suit.) _

_Okay, now that I know you won't look like a raccoon in what I'm sure is a beautiful dress, I have some things to tell you. The first one is that I am so sorry I'm not there to stand beside you. I would give anything to be there. Also, I'm so proud of you, not just because I know you stuck to your guns and if you're getting married, by now you've earned a Tony (I kind of hope it's for _Evita, _because if it is I probably saw you win that Tony), but also because you did it. Even if Broadway had never happened for you, you gave it everything you had, and that's a hell of a lot, Rachel Berry. I know I didn't stick to our plan, Tony by twenty-five and then married by thirty, but after that friend of ours from Dalton died in that car wreck, Blaine and I couldn't wait anymore. I don't know if I've ever told you this, but he'd been dating the same girl for basically forever. But because she was "just" his girlfriend, and his parents disapproved of her, they were able to exclude her from _everything _while he was on life support, even visits. Seven years, and she didn't get to kiss him goodbye. We couldn't let that happen to us. We didn't actually think it would, __but we'd been talking about getting married for years. I knew he was my forever._

_It's funny, because everyone said that we couldn't let that convince us, that twenty-one was crazy early to get married, but now I'm so glad that Blaine and I went a little bit crazy, because if I'd waited till thirty I wouldn't have the support of my husband right now. Yes, I'd have Blaine, but there's just something about having a ring on my finger that lets me know that even when I'm alone the hospital after chemo, when he can't visit me without masks and gloves and that means he can't touch my skin… he is. Because there, on my hand, is a ring he gave me when he made a promise he'd already made a dozen times before. That's what my marriage has done for me, Rachel, it's given me something tangible and ever-present and _mine, _even when everything else—my hair, my complexion, being able to design or sing without wearing myself out, even my ability to hold someone's hand skin-to-skin—is gone, that ring is still there. I hope your marriage gives you something that is as comforting in your darkest hours._

_ Now, allow me to reminisce for a second. Remember when we went to that NYADA mixer, and you said "I wish I was your boyfriend?" And how later on, when we were living in that hanger in Brooklyn, when it would get too cold in there, you'd come crawl in bed with me? How we'd joke about you being my "unfortunately female platonic boyfriend," while I was your "boyfriend in every way but us actually dating?" I know we were just joking, but at the same time… there's a line in _Sex and the City,_ about how our friends are our true soul mates, and even though I honestly believe that Blaine is my one true romantic soul mate, there's no denying that you're a piece of my soul and a piece of my heart, Rachel. So, I want you do something for me. And this request ties in to what I said earlier about my ring._

_ I want you to wear it today, Rachel. The ring, along with a chain, is in the box that Blaine's given you. I love you so much, and that ring was my reminder that even when chemo and cancer take away the physical presence of someone we love, they can't take it all. I want to be there with you, I want you to know the _importance _of this day, and last but not least, I want to be a good boyfriend one last time before whatever hottie you're about to marry steals you away. (And I know he's hot, you have exceptional taste in men. After all, you went after Blaine and tried to "date" me.) So, do your longest-standing "boyfriend" a favor, and, as the King would say, "wear my ring around your neck."_

_ I don't know who you're marrying today, Rachel. It could be Jesse, or Finn, or Brody, or Puck, or someone I've never met. Maybe you decided you wanted to be Blaine's sister enough to marry Cooper (though if you're marrying Cooper it's probably best to adopt children, because the world isn't ready for the combination of that that much ambition, no matter how much I love you both). But no matter who he is, I hope he can give to you what Blaine has given to me, what I'm letting you borrow today. I hope he can find some way to make sure you know you are never, never alone. But if he can't, if you two don't work out and you feel alone, find Blaine. Ask to hold my ring. Read this letter. Know how much I love you, how much Blaine loves you, because asking him to let go of my ring, even for a while, is letting go of his connection to me, and he wouldn't do it for just anybody. _

_ So stop crying, let Quinn fix your makeup, and smile. And while to the world, I've been listed as the Officer Krupke to your Maria in high school, and I'm only the Andre to your Christine by Broadway's standards, even though we never got to do a show as opposite leads, remember that first (illegal) Broadway performance. Rachel, you are always and forever the Elphaba to my Galinda, and you _did _change me for the better. Now, go get your Fiyero._

_I love you,_

_Kurt_

"I don't know how he expects me to stop crying after that. Blaine… will you close the necklace, please?" Blaine knows Rachel is asking for more, so as soon as he has released the clasp and made certain the chain is secure, he pulls her in close and they hold each other, remembering the discomfort of waiting room seats and the agony of watching Kurt battle the cancer.

Once everyone's make-up has been fixed up ("everyone's" because Quinn and Santana had cried as hard as Rachel and Blaine while she read that letter), there's not much time left until Hiram and Leroy come to tell them to take their places. But once they get there, they realize Hiram and Leroy had both set both of their watches ahead by five minutes and then forgotten about it, so they're left with time to kill, something Blaine is grateful for.

"One last thing, Rach. I'm supposed to give you this, too." He pulls out a much more recent note and hands it over to her.

"Because I need to cry again," she sighs as she unfolds the letter, reading aloud again, reaching up to toy with the ring on a chain.

_Lovely, lovely_ _Rachel,_

_ First of all, I'm _sorry, _sweetie. I know what that letter probably did to you. But I need you to know that I meant every word of it. And what I said about hoping your marriage can give you something to get you through feeling like you had nothing? It will, I can feel it every time I see him look at you._

_ I have to tell you, the day the doctor told me I'd beat the odds, that I was in remission, I put the box of letters I'd been writing people I love, some to say goodbye, others for milestones yet to come, in the closet. About a year later, the first of those milestones came (you won your Tony!) and I decided to make a scrapbook of them, a reminder to me when things get bad or all those stupid tests I still have to have done even though I've been in remission for what feels like forever get under my skin, of what I miraculously got to see when everyone, even some of the best doctors out there, thought I wouldn't. And I was going to do the same with the letter for your wedding day. _

_But then you asked me to get certified and officiate, telling me that "I almost didn't have you at my wedding, Kurt, and your blessing, having you there, means more to me than anyone else," and I realized (again) just how hard me being sick was for you. You were so brave, so strong, that I forget sometimes that you had to have been hurting, too. No one else could have been there with me and Blaine for every test and appointment, been my rock when Blaine wasn't around, been Blaine and my dad's rock through it all. You walked away from playing Elphaba for me, Rachel, and it was the most "Elphie" thing you've ever done, even though at that point I felt more like Nessarose than Galinda. _

_So I decided I had to let you know. I had to remind you that even if we'd lost that fight, you'd never lose me. I'd have been here somehow, Rachel. I hope you understand, and that you're reading this where Quinn and Santana can hear me and that they understand, because it would _suck _if they decided to get revenge on me for making you cry and beat me with their pumps while I'm wearing this suit. Now, let that hunky man of mine walk your gorgeous blonde and brunette co-maids-of-honor down the aisle. (Seriously, read at least that part aloud so they're less likely to hit me.) I'm waiting, and so is your Fiyero. _

_And yes, I _do _intend to tell your dashing groom that I got a wedding ring on you before he did. Also, I feel completely naked without it, so I'll meet you before the reception to get it back, okay?_

_Love you._

This time, it was Santana who broke the silence. "Okay, something has _got _to be done about Porcelain's crush on Gerard Butler, because this whole 'false recreation of _P.S. I Love You' _thing was so not needed today." Rachel laughed, and stepped out from between her dads, walking up to Blaine. She was suddenly glad she'd decided to mix up the traditional entrances—the two best men (because her fiancé couldn't pick between his two best friends, either) would walk up together, with "his other girl" (his mom) in between them, while Quinn and Santana walked up with Blaine. They'd go up after the rest of the parties would file up together, because Rachel acknowledges that traditions have their place, but sometimes they need modernization. So these three would go directly before her dads walked her up. It had taken some convincing to get their families to go along with this, but she _needed _to see these three in front of her as she walked down the aisle, even if Blaine would slip out from between Quinn and Santana to sit next to Rachel's soon-to-be mother-in-law. They'd gotten her through the worst part of her life. Since they'd gotten Kurt (and each other) through the cancer, she and Blaine leaned on each other. And even though she hadn't been close to Quinn or Santana in high school, they'd been _her _rocks when Kurt was sick, and she loved them both for it.

When she slips her hand into Blaine's, she remembers a moment just like this from a lifetime ago, standing all dressed up and holding Blaine's hand, nervous and excited and so, so in love, and a conversation about soul mates. So she whispers, "We're a lot alike, you and I. Remember right before opening night of _West Side Story,_ how we talked about finding our soul mates against all odds and opposition? Well, not only do we have that, we've got friends like… well, like each other. And you and your soul mate defied the odds twice. You found each other, and then you _kept _each other when everyone said you wouldn't. I… that's what I hope this gives me, Blaine."

"It will. I promise it will. Now, go back to your dads. I love you."

So Rachel goes back to stand between her dads, and when Hiram whispers, "They're playing your song, baby. You ready for this?" she lifts Kurt's ring and places a kiss on it, remembering _Rachel, he said he'd been looking for me forever, and then he kissed me! _and _Rach, he said it again. That he'd been looking for me forever. It's what he said when he told me how he felt about me, and he said it again when he proposed, and that's how I know this is real, _and thousands of other moments listening to Kurt gush about Blaine. She hears Kurt say _I want to hear aaaaaall about him, because I've got a good feeling about him _and _Rachel, when I told him if he made you cry I'd make him cry, he said, "Good, I'd deserve it," _and _you two already act like you're married, honey, don't be so stressed, but yes, I think he's going to propose and I think it's about time, _and _I definitely approve, sweetie, of course I'll officiate, _and _I definitely think you'll make it, he looks at you like I look at Blaine_ and _I hope your marriage gives you something that is as comforting in your darkest hours. _Then she thinks of _it will, I can feel it every time I see him look at you, _and she knows just how to answer his question.

"I've been looking for him forever, Daddy. Of course I'm ready."

* * *

Author's note 2: This, let me tell you, was exhausting to write. I'm not going to lie, when the plot bunny first hit me, Kurt hadn't survived the cancer. But then I started with the _Wicked _references, thought about Rachel giving up the role to take care of Kurt, and decided to try a version in which Kurt lives. Lots of "Rachel gets married" stories feature Kurt as the "maid of honor," but I thought the backstory here called for something different, if Kurt was going to be alive at all. Then I thought of Kurt officiating, and how much more poignant this story would be if we got to see both Kurts—the Kurt who didn't think he'd get to see his best friend get married and is trying to make sure she knows what marriage is about, and that she have a something of his, because he wishes her a marriage as happy as his has been, and then the Kurt that _knows _Rachel is making the right decision and supports it enough to officiate her wedding, but also needs her to know that he's there for her and always will be, even if it seems like he can't possibly be there. Him being alive also allows for Rachel to think about how she's always wanted something like what Kurt and Blaine have, and to compare what he's said about both of them, and realize she's making the right decision. Also, I just absolutely could not kill Kurt. Couldn't do it. When I thought about an "alternate ending" of sorts, about halfway through the first letter, and realized it would still work without feeling like I just copped out of killing off Kurt, I literally found a Magic 8 Ball online and asked, "Should I stick with the original plot and let him be dead?" and it answered "No." So… thank the Magic 8 Ball, guys. Then again, considering I couldn't bring myself to pick a Warbler, I probably would have chickened out anyway. Also, the thing with the Furbie? Totally happened to me. I only had one, but I was going to bed in the middle of the night one night when I was in the fourth grade after I fell asleep on the couch and woke up with a terrible crick in my neck, and somehow managed to activate the motion-sensing Furbie that was sitting in my floor. I screamed, kicked at the mysterious demon, missed and hit my solid oak desk, and limped for a week. (On the upside, I got out of P.E. that week, but probably only because the P.E. teacher laughed out loud when I told her how I'd hurt my foot and then felt guilty about it.)


End file.
